todolist # 18 - Create Schedule

Once the project management tool is decided;

1. Create milestones. By and large, there will be a one to one mapping between the work packages (WBS) and the milestones. If the work packages are more aligned towards the 8 hours (8-80 rule, suggesting that workpackges should be between 8 hours and 80 hours), then one milestone may comprise of multiple work packages. If it is more aligned towards 80 hours, then there can be one to one mapping between the work pacges and milestones. There is no guideline stipulating this. The project manager has the complete authority to decide on this.
2. Once the milestones are identified, then transfer the corresponding activities (from the activity lists of the corresponding work packages) under the milestone. Care should be taken to list them, based on their precedence (order of occurrence).
3. At this stage, it is a good time to do a bottom up estimation (if not done earlier)
4. Please ensure that the activities have appropriate buffers
5. When we add up the estimates of the individual activities, it should tally with the top down estimates done earlier at the work package level. If there is a big variance, revisit the estimates and if required, re-negotiate based on the new information. No need to shy away from this, as "continuous elaboration" is a characterestic of every project.
6. While creating the activities, create them by allocating just one resource, which can be optimized later. That means, if a particular activity comprises of 10 person days of effort, then the calender days required to complete the activity also will be 10, since only 1 resource is allocated against it.
7. Steps 1,2,3 will give a semi cooked schedule with milestones and their pertaining activities, all starting on the same day and every activity is allocated with just one resource.
8. Start sequencing these acticities based on their finish to start dependencies
9. Load these activities with additional resources. Depending on the number of resources allocated, the durations will reduce.
10. Do the resource levelling to ensure that the resource loading is practical
11. If the desired end date is not achievable, try negotiating for an extension of the end date
12. If cost is highly flexible, then ask for more resources
13. Once an acceptable schedule is arrived at - lock it (baseline it)
14. While preparing the schedule, one may have to go back and change the scope, budgets, WBS till a practical schedule is arrived at. Schedule preparation is iterative in nature.